Self Defense/Dealing with vandals

What is your advice for dealing with people who are coming after you by damaging your property when you are not around?I have a car that I park on the street that has been being vandalized recently.I am 99% sure I know who is doing it but unfortunately I haven't caught them in the act.

ANSWER: Important safety tip... unless you are in Texas ... life is given priority over property.

If you do ANYTHING physical to protect your property that causes the other person harm, you are -- in the eyes of the law -- in the wrong. YOU will be the one committing the greater crime.

Got it?

Now, if you knew how to get away with it, you wouldn't be asking. So I'm going to assume you don't know how to get away with a crime. So don't even try.

You're best bet is to get your car out of there. If you can't then set up a video recorder and motion sensor. Was the first few time reported to the police? As in do they have a record of the crime? And most importantly, did you tell them who you think is doing it?

This allows when you catch that person on video them to ask about other events. Often people trip themselves up and unwittingly admit to those.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Marc

So if I do happen to catch them in the act would you recommend not even confronting them at all?

The situation I am in requires me to park in that spot.I wish I didn't have to but I don't really have a choice on that one.

I haven't reported it to the police yet but that's a mistake on my part and the next time it happens I definitely will report it.

I am very interested in your video recorder idea.How does that work?Are you referring to a camera posted inside or outside of the car?Do you have a particular product you would recommend for this?I don't think i'd be able to put something outside of the car since i'd worry that it would be found or stolen.It also seems very impractical.

The people that are doing this are smart and they don't do it on a regular schedule.They just do it randomly out of the blue sometimes.It could be weeks before it will happen again.I would need something that would be able to record every single day at all times for weeks.Does such a product exist?

Thank you very much for your help!

AnswerConfronting someone is one of those fucked up issues that -- unless you know how to get away with it -- is going to blow up in your face.

And by getting away with it I mean you walk up behind the guy, bust his knee caps with a ball and then -- because there's no witnesses -- when the cops ask you what happened, you can deny any knowledge.

That kind of getting away with it I'm talking about. And if you ain't good enough you're going to jail.

Any sort of confrontation with a group and it's your word against theirs. So you're going to lose... especially if you confront them and things go physical.

Worse, in situations like this, usually this is revenge. Something triggered it and now it's 'personal.' Which is why it's happening. This makes it real rough about getting the cops involved if there is a confrontation. Now they're going to look at it as two groups misbehaving, not you the victim and them the bad guys. Unless they beat the holy shit out of you.

So yeah, video.

It's not that hard, the tech isn't that expensive and you can basically see if there's a way to set it up that any movement around your car triggers the motion sensors and the camera. You wifi it back (or cable it) to your computer and viola! You got evidence the cops can act on

Find someone who is good with electronics who can set it up inside your budget and within the limitations you have

Expertise

Street self-defense, crime avoidance and personal safety

Experience

I grew up in the streets of Los Angeles in 'situational poverty.' I have dealt with criminals and violent people all my life -- both personally and professionally. I have written 15 books and 6 videos on surviving street violence. I was originally published under the name Marc Animal MacYoung. (Animal was my street name). I've taught police and military both internationally and within the US. I've lectured at universities, academies and done countless TV, radio, newspaper and magazine interviews. I'm a professional speaker on crime avoidance and personal safety. And I am an expert witness recognized by the US court system.
My bio is at
www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/marcmacyoung.html
My abridged CV (Curriculum Vitae) is at
http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/seminarEW.htm